These Red Walls
by TwistedTeaCakes
Summary: The tale of a little girl whose family is left in the ashes, as she goes on to be forged into a weapon. These red walls tell a tale, of girls forged by blood and pain, heartbreaks, betrayals, and of girls with serums coursing through their veins.
1. Up In Flames

Disclaimer: I own nothing in this story, even if I wish I did

Lullaby: Set Apart This Dream by Flyleaf (Imagine it softer if you actually listen to it)

"Natalia, it's almost bed time! Go wash up and I'll tuck you in, alright?" her mother's voice called from the kitchen.

"Okay Mama." she called back, looking up from her coloring. Natalia didn't exactly want to move, as she had gotten comfortable in her spot in front of the fireplace after dinner and had nearly finished the drawing she had been working on. It was a typical family picture, poorly drawn and labeled. Her father had been sick lately, something about work stress, so she tried to draw him healthy and smiling. Her baby brother was there also, and so was her older sister who was ten now. It had been difficult to draw her brother so she had decided to do a bundle shaped thing with a face. She decided she would give it to her mother when she came upstairs, wanting to put a ribbon on it she had in her room. Her small hand grabbed the rag doll she had just gotten for her fifth birthday, and turned to get ready for bed.

As she ran past the kitchen to reach the stairs she could hear her mother humming a familiar tune while she finished the last of the dishes. "Mama? Can you sing to me before I go to sleep?" she decided to ask, watching as the woman turned and smiled at her patiently. "Of course dear, now go wash up and change." her mother promised, before putting the dishes back in their cabinet.

The redheaded child seemed excited that she had agreed, despite the fact she usually had a story read to her or was sang to anyway. Sometimes they would talk about the ballet lessons she had been enrolled in with what little money they could squirrel away. She loved it, and had fallen asleep a few times just talking about the other girls in her small class. She entered the small, slightly cramped bathroom and got onto the step stool so she could brush her teeth. Two minutes, just like she had been taught, and then rinsed out the leftover toothpaste.

Her room was only a few feet away from the hall bathroom, and she pushed open the door when she reached it. She shivered at the cold that had worked its way into her room, knowing the house was usually a little drafty. She pulled the thicker nightgown from her closet, and tugged it over her head and grabbed some socks to keep her feet warm. Remembering the picture that she was still holding, she turned to grab the ribbon off the mirror where she had tied it. She then tied a bow with it and made sure that it didn't bend the corner too much to tie it around it. Then she turned towards the small twin bed and hopped onto it, clutching the gift and doll close. As she laid down on the bed, she tugged the blanket around herself and waited for the door to open.

It was only a matter of seconds before the door opened, revealing her mother as she walked into the room. Her hair was shorter than her own, but not by much. The weathered face was smiling at her, glad she didn't have to fight her to get ready for bed like she sometimes did.

The blankets were moved and tucked snugly around her, making sure she would stay warm despite the chill of the house. Then she began playing with her curls in the same soothing way. As she situated herself onto the edge of her bed, Natalia looked up and smiled before yet again remembering the drawing.

"I drew you something.. I wanted to put a bow on it first." she said, grabbing the picture off the bed beside her and then handing it to her.

"I love it. I'll put it on the wall when I go downstairs." she assured, smiling as she looked over the image. Her daughter was more of a dancer than an artist, but as any mother should, she assured her that it was good. "Now.. you need to go to sleep."

After pressing a kiss to her forehead she began to sing quietly, her words taking on a soothing and gentle quality. "Close your eyes pretty girl. 'Cause it's easier when you brace yourself. Set your thoughts on a world far off. Where we only cry from joy. Oh, set apart this dream. Oh, set apart this dream for me. Set apart this dream for me. Oh, lovely and beautiful, precious and priceless. You're so much more than you know, heart of the purest gold. Pure clean and white as snow clothed in such splendor. Oh, what a beauty for me…" the song trailed off as her mother seemed to notice she was already mostly asleep, and an affectionate smile was on her face. "I love you Natalia.. Sleep well." she spoke softly, adjusting the thick comforter over her body again to be sure that she wouldn't get cold.

"Love you Mama.." she mumbled, her eyes heavy with her bodies need to sleep and a content smile on her face.

"Goodnight my sweet girl.." she whispered, running a gentle hand over the red curls, and standing up. Natalia only made a small sound of acknowledgement, before curling up deeper under the blankets and beginning to doze off. The door was closed only after she had fully fallen asleep, dreams of ballet and pretty dolls preparing to fill her head.

The first thing to assault her senses as she came to was the scent of smoke. Heat quickly followed, the house was unnaturally warm for a Russian winter. The third was the sound of her bedroom door slamming open and hurried footsteps.

"Mama?" she asked, noticing the look on her face and coughing at the smoke filtering into the room slowly. It smelt horrible, and she was groggy enough not to fully realize that this was a potentially dangerous situation.

"Get up Talia. Come on, we're leaving." she said, keeping her voice quiet and light as she led her over to the window. They were on the second floor, and there were a few people outside who had been drawn by the fire to try and put it out.

"Mama what's going on?"

"It's not safe. Come on."

"But.. Where's papa and the others?" she wanted to know, and refused to budge much.

"Your sister is with him, they should be getting out now. They were heading downstairs. I'm taking you, and we'll all meet outside. I promise. Now come on." her mother scooped her into her arms as she stepped onto the ledge, looking desperately around for a moment as if though for someone to help. She still couldn't see any sign of her husband or children, and clutched Natalia tighter for a moment.

There was a large man standing there, looking up at them and extending his arms. "I'll catch her! Just throw her down and then jump too!" he called up, his voice barely heard over the sound of a beam crashing down in the hallway. The fire was compromising the structure of the wooden home already, and it seemed they only had a small window of opportunity to try to escape.

"I love you Natalia.." she seemed to know something the young child did not, and pressed her lips to her forehead before tossing her into the air. A cry of shock escaped the girl, feeling herself suddenly plummeting only to crash into the man's arms.

"You're safe. Your mother is coming now, it's okay." he assured, smoothing her hair gently and watching as the woman glanced back and then made to jump. That wasn't going to happen though, because as soon as she seemed to work up the courage to jump, another beam crashed down, sending her stumbling off the ledge and into the room. Fire was licking at the structure now, and the smoke was dark and menacing against the night sky.

As the fire raged on and her mother didn't reappear, she began to weep, the freezing temperatures making her eyes sting even worse. Her body was shivering as she cried, staring up towards the window she had been thrown from. "Mama!" she cried out. "Mama. Please! You have to help her!" she looked up at the man suddenly, her eyes wide and fearful, as if knowing what had happened already. The look on his face reflected her own suspicions, and he seemed mournful for the child he'd caught.

"Shh.. It's okay.. It's okay." he assured, moving to hold her closer and smoothing out her hair as she cried.

"But she's in there! She- She.. She's coming now, she has to!" she sounded desperate, a child's useless plea, suddenly beginning to struggle against his hold. She cried out again, watching as the building continued to crumble. Suddenly she remembered the doll that she had left on her bed, and the family that was supposed to have been outside now. Surely they would have come in this direction, and there weren't as many people outside as expected. No one looked familiar, and fear pooled in her belly as she tried to call out again. "Mama! Papa! Nikolai! Anna!" she began screaming out for her parents, desperate to receive some sort of response from her parents or siblings. "Anna! Anna please!" she had been told her sister was getting her father out of the house, and had been with Nikolai most likely.

He couldn't bring himself to tell her that none of her family had seemed to escape the fire unharmed or even alive. The building had caught flame so quickly, and he hasn't seen anyone get out besides her from where he had been watching. This was definitely not what he'd been expecting to see from just a simple observation assignment. "Hey.. What's your name? I'm Ivan."

"Natalia.." she answered, sniffling slightly and her voice sounding hoarse from the screaming. Her eyes were puffy from crying, and she kept looking around desperately for any sign of her family.

"Would you like to come with me? Out of the cold at least? I know a place, you'll be safe there." he suggested, wiping away a tear with his thumb. "I'm really sorry.. About for family. I tried to help.. But you can make a new family. I'll keep you safe." he was trying to tempt her with offers of a new life, but couldn't tell if it were working.

"I.. But my family.. They… They have to be alive, right? They.. They loved me, they wouldn't leave me.." her words sounded so desperate and pained, and yet there was a creeping understanding on her face. They truly wouldn't come for her. Never again would her sister braid her hair and cheer on her ballet practices. Nor would her mother sing her to sleep, hold her close when she was scared as she should be now, or tell her stories. She wouldn't let her help with whatever baking they could do, or sew her dresses. Her father wouldn't play the piano for her again, while letting her sit on his lap, or dance with her mother in the living room. Her baby brother would never age, never grow into the handsome young man they always said he would be. She wouldn't be able to play with him or watch the way he looked so happy about almost everything.

"They can't.." her voice seemed to give out as she broke into another fit of sobs, shaking with both cold and pain. Meanwhile Ivan never stopped stroking her hair, trying to provide some form of comfort for the small child.

A few minutes passed and she sniffled as she calmed down, only occasionally jerking as she tried to even out her breathing. "Where would we go?" she asked, blinking slowly and wiping her eyes. The idea of somewhere warm was nice, and she was exhausted from crying.

"I have a truck, it's a bit of a long drive." he was making sure she was going to willingly go. "Don't worry.." he added.

"C-Can we.." she asked, blinking a few times to clear her vision again, to which he responded with a nod. He carried her in the direction of his truck, knowing she wasn't going to be walking much at the moment and wanting to buy her a few moments to recover from what she'd witnessed. He pulled open the passenger door to the ZIS-5, and situated her inside, making sure she was buckled. Then he walked over to the other side of the truck, and glanced over before starting it up. Her eyes were locked with an expression of longing and pain on the still burning home. He reached over to put his hand on her shoulder lightly, giving her a smile of assurance before beginning to drive.

A/N: Alright, so this is my first chapter of a story I plan to have cover her time in the Red Room. We'll see what happens. I was wondering what my readers think, how they'd like languages to be handled, etc. Do you want the text all English but it's understood they're speaking Russian, or when it's in any language but English have it in that language such as: "Vstavay!" (Get up) the booming voice commanded. Let me know, also reviews in general bring on chapters faster!


	2. Welcome to the Program

An hour spent curled up in the passenger seat hadn't done much to improve the child's mood. Five times Ivan had tried to get her to speak with him, but she had only stared out the window in a sullen silence. She was shivering a bit, despite having removed her snow soaked socks. As she looked out the window, she really missed the warmth of her bed. It was gone though, her home and family had burned in flames and taken a small piece of her with it.

"Look.. Talia.. You can't just ignore me. I want to help you." he tried again, looking at her for a moment as he knew there would be no other traffic in the direction they were headed.

"I know.. Just.. I don't know what to think. Everything.." she trailed off and reached up with one hand to wipe her eyes. "It's.. Gone. They're gone.."

"It'll be okay. Where we're going, you're going to be able to honor their memory. They might not be with you now, but they would be proud of what we can help you become." Ivan smiled, turning his eyes back to the road.

"Where are we going?" she decided to ask, turning her head to look over.

"You'll see.. In fact, we're about three minute's away." he was scanning the terrain, wanting to get out of the truck.

The five year old nodded once, seeming appeased by that answer and curled back up in her seat, leaning her face against the cold glass. Her tears from earlier had dried and frozen to her face, and all she could feel was a deep emotional and mental exhaustion. She didn't have the energy to ask more questions, only figuring she would learn more when they got to this mystery location. As he had said, a few minutes later she could see a wall growing larger where it had only been a hazy line a few minutes before.

The walls surrounded a structure she couldn't quite make out. At each of the four corners there was a tower of some sort, likely with a guard of some sort. It was white like the snow covered landscape surrounding it, and would be likely hard to notice from above or far away. She shivered again, wrapping her arms around herself and curling up a bit more to conserve body heat. The below zero temperatures of winter weren't being kept out well by the truck, and she hoped that inside the building would at least be warmer.

He pulled to a stop in front of the walls, a gate barring them from entering. She noticed they had stopped and looked around to see another large man approaching the vehicle. He was armed with a gun, his face mostly covered, and a large fur lined hood around his head.

"Welcome back Petrovich." he greeted, looking past him into the truck, seeing the child curled up in the seat and watching him warily. "Who is this?"

"A new recruit." he responded, noticeably shifting his demeanor to one that was more commanding and serious than she had seen him. "Open the gate."

"Of course, sir." he agreed, stepping away from the truck and signaling to a man she hadn't seen standing there, causing him to open the gate for them. She was looking around more now, curious about where she was. Recruit? What had that meant? Now that they were here she seemed to be more ready to look around rather than just stare off into the distance like she had been. He noticed this and hoped that she would be a quick learner with how curious and observant she seemed to be. As they drove slowly into the compound, she could see smaller buildings, and up ahead a much larger building than anything she had seen before. There were pillars and towers, a bell tower on the far side to call in the hours to the inhabitants of the building, and windows to let in light. The onion domes topped off parts of the building, dark in comparison to some of the brightly colored ones she had seen elsewhere. Likely to blend in with the occasional patches of trees she could barely make out through the slow snow that was starting up again.

He pulled to another stop in front of the building, turning off the truck and then getting out. He walked around to the other side and opened the door, picking her up and carrying her to the large wooden doors. She was put down on the step that wasn't covered in snow, and waited for him to open the doors.

"Keep up Natalia." he said, glancing over his shoulder at her as he walked into the building. Bare feet padded along behind him, and she was still shivering slightly. This building was just barely warmer than her house had been, and noticeably less drafty. She followed him down hallways, taking in every detail with an alertness her father had always said was rare in a child her age. There were no other sounds from the building as far as she could hear, and wondered if anyone but the guards and the two of them were awake. Eventually he led her towards another set of large doors, and knocked twice before walking in. It had large windows to let in light, though it was still only a little after midnight, and candles proved to be the main light source. There was another man sitting behind the desk, seeming to have been told about their arrival and been waiting. His hands were folded atop the desk, and he took in the nervous child and the man who had brought her here.

"I thought I told you this was a scouting assignment Petrovich..."

"I know sir, but things turned out differently than I expected. Her home burnt, and her mother threw her to me. No one else made it out. I offered to bring her here as a place to stay."

"I see.." he turned his head to look towards the child and sighed. "What is your name little one?" he asked.

"Natalia.." she responded, her eyes flicking to Ivan as if asking who this was.

"You can call me Levitsky. No need to start with the official titles quite yet. We tend to go on a last name basis." he gestured for her to sit in one of the chairs, while Ivan went to stand by the chair she was in. He could see she was already searching the area to try and figure out more of what was going on.

"Recruit.. When he said that, what did it mean?" she asked, turning her gaze fully on the man.

"I see he didn't tell you why you're here.. Well, this is a very special program. You seem to be a very special girl. This program only accepts the very best.." he shifted in his seat, sitting up a bit more. "You'll be doing a great service for your country as long as you listen to what we say and behave. Wouldn't you like that?" he asked.

A nod was given by the girl as she had already begun hearing things about how important loyalty to their country was. In the classes she attended they preached about the beauty and grace of dance, and how important it was to promote Soviet culture. In school she rehearsed a pledge every day with the other children, and had already developed a strong sense of pride for her country and what it was supposed to become. "I would like that very much. He said it would also honor my family's memory?"

"Very much so, every parent would be honored to know their child was selected for this. Your dancing is actually what drew us to you in the first place, though the fact your family.. It's a tragedy of course. They should've been able to see you as what you will be." he looked sympathetic for her and she glanced away momentarily, a brief pang of grief shooting through her.

"If it will bring greatness to my country and pride to my family's memory.. I will do what is asked." she figured that was the right thing to say, and also because she wanted to do what seemed right.

"Good girl. As he is awake, Ivan will take you to your room. You'll be sharing a room with the other girls in this program. You'll be more formally introduced to them tomorrow. Madame Kseniya will be coming for all of you in the morning though."

"Thank you." she responded, standing up after a look at Ivan and seeing that she could. She then got up and followed him out of the office, unsure what else to do besides follow him. This was a new environment for her, and she was more than a little intimidated by it. She had never been afraid of the dark before, but walking in silence down the halls made her feel cold for reasons other than the chill left over from the drive here.

He led her down a series of halls again, towards another part of the building, most of the doors being metal instead of wood. She eyed the one they were approaching nervously, barely able to make out any details of the halls in this lighting and wondering where they were in the structure now. He pulled out a key from his pocket and unlocked the door, pushing the metal inwards and then gesturing for her to follow again.

As she walked into the room, she saw a few beds with girls of varied ages lying asleep in them. All of them had one arm extended above their heads, but she couldn't quite make out why. Was this just what they did here? He led her over to one of the empty beds under a window, and gestured for her to lay down. Then he grabbed a pair of cuffs from his pocket and moved her arm so he could link it to the metal of the bed frame.

"Wh-What is.." she looked confused as the cuff was secured around her wrist, unsure what to think of the situation. This was far from the gentle singing and loving caress her mother gave her hair as she fell asleep peacefully.

"Don't worry. It's just a precaution, to make sure you're safe."

"But.." she was cut off by a silencing finger and the sound of a girl stirring somewhere else in the room.

"Don't want to wake anyone yet. Goodnight Natalia. I promise, you'll adjust to life here pretty quickly. You seem like a smart girl. I'll see you soon." he smiled lightly at her before turning and leaving the room. None of the other girls stirred, and she wondered how long they had been here.

As she lay there with the metal biting into her flesh, she truly felt the weight of her loss, and the knowledge that nothing would ever be the same. She curled in on herself a bit, keeping her arm extended above her head to prevent the metal from biting too much, and closed her eyes to sleep.


End file.
